The UNC Board of Governors gave North Carolina State University the green light to begin planning a $15 million dorm that will house some of the school's basketball players.
The N.C. State Wolfpack Club, the school's booster organization, will foot the bill for the 62-bed facility. More than half of the dorm's residents will be non-athletes in accordance with NCAA rules.
Chancellor Randy Woodson told the Board of Governors the facility, called Case Commons, will allow athletes to live closer to tutoring and academic resources with fewer distractions.
Three Board of Governors members voted against the project. Board member Marty Kotis, a commercial developer, said he does not understand why so much is being spent on the dorms. The university spends about $60,000 per bed on student housing, but the Case Commons dorm would spend close to $240,000 per bed.
"I thought that was pretty high, as I think most people would think that's really high. I think most families out there would view four students being housed for a million dollars as an extravagant amount," Kotis said. "However, I do understand from Chancellor Woodson that this is being funded by the Wolfpack Club, and not using other state funds."
Kotis added that he thinks the Case Commons project abides by the NCAA rules against all-athlete dorms, but isn't in line with the spirit of the rule. N.C. State plans to open the dorm by 2019.
In an e-mail, N.C. State Athletics spokesman declined to comment for this story saying, "There are multiple areas involved in this process and premature to comment on part of athletics at current time."